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News for Foodies: 05.30.13

    Sweet and savory Beurre & Sel cookies will be sold this summer at Lucy’s Whey cheese shop in East Hampton. The cookies were created by Dorie Greenspan, a four-time James Beard Award-winner, cookbook author, and blogger. On weekends in July and August, her son and business partner, Josh Greenspan, will be at the store to sell the cookies and talk about their story.

Chicken and Waffles

May 28, 2013
Hey You! This Water’s Too Dry

Into the void and other tales of a Hamptons waitress

May 23, 2013
News for Foodies: 05.23.13

    Ruschmeyer’s in Montauk opened yesterday. The restaurant will be a collaboration this year between the executive chef, Brian Loiacono, and a team from The Smile restaurant in Manhattan, including Matt Kliegman, Carlos Quirarte, and Melia Marden.

    A new menu emphasizing fresh Montauk seafood and local produce includes a selection of organic wines made of grapes grown using sustainable and biodynamic methods, as well as a new list of signature cocktails. Service will be provided in the main dining room as well as in a breakfast nook. 

Madison & Main

May 21, 2013
Asparagus can be enjoyed in many ways, just don’t be surprised if asparagusic acid, a close relative of skunk spray, makes your pee smell funny. Seasons by the Sea: Spring Tips

    Spring is here and with it comes one of the best vegetables, asparagus. Available at farmers markets, local asparagus can be found in chopstick-thin stalks, Sharpie-pen fatties, and even some violet-tinged varieties. You can steam, boil, stir-fry, roast, grill, microwave, and pickle asparagus. Serve it hot, at room temperature, or cold. Puree it into soups. Save some tips for risottos. You can even shave it raw into salads.

May 21, 2013
News for Foodies: 05.16.13

News for Foodies

    Fresh is the new restaurant this season in the spot on Bridgehampton Turnpike in Bridgehampton where South Fork Kitchen used to be. Todd Jacobs, who was the chef at Sag Harbor’s American Hotel before moving to Tierra Mar in Westhampton Beach, has opened a “farm-to-table” eatery billed as family-friendly as well as “affordable and accessible.” The menu includes organic, raw, gluten-free, and vegetarian options, with most dishes available in different-size portions, including, for entrees,  quarter-pound, half-pound, and one-pound servings.

May 14, 2013
Miraval spa transforms both healthy and not-so-healthy food into tasty and more nutritious options. Seasons by the Sea: The Balancing Act

   I was recently fortunate enough to spend some time at a health-concscious resort called Miraval. Miraval’s motto is “Life in Balance.” It is set on 400 acres next to the Santa Catalina Mountains outside of Tucson, Ariz. And it serves booze!

May 14, 2013
Much has changed in the Nick and Toni’s decor, but its chef, Joe Realmuto, and the red horse remain the same. East End Eats: Nick and Toni’s Does Wonderful Things

Nick and Toni’s

136 North Main Street

East Hampton

324-3550

Friday and Saturday, 6-10:30 p.m.

Sunday, 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Monday and Thursday, 6-10 p.m.

May 7, 2013
Friday nights at the Wolffer Estate Vineyard feature wine available by the glass or bottle and live music in a warm setting overlooking Sagaponack fields. News for Foodies: 05.09.13

   Sunday brings Mother’s Day, an occasion, for some, to enjoy a meal out at a local restaurant, a number of which have special plans for the holiday.

May 7, 2013
Gioveanni Caveggia assisted Jennifer Etzkin, center, and Sarah Diehl of the East Hampton Grill in their wine exploration at the Vias Imports First Annual Spring Tasting, held at the Palm restaurant on April 23. News for Foodies: 05.02.13

Montauk’s New Eats

    Gringos Burrito Grill has opened on Main Street in downtown Montauk, and is serving from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. The menu includes made-to-order burritos, soft or hard tacos, burrito bowls, and salads.

Apr 30, 2013
News for Foodies: 04.25.13

Navy Beach to Open

    Navy Beach restaurant on Montauk’s Fort Pond Bay will open for the season tomorrow night at 5 p.m. A new menu will feature new dishes such as, for starters, conch fritters with habanero aioli, a grilled Caesar salad, and salmon tartare, and, as entrees lemon-crab spaghetti, lobster salad, and the catch of the day. Old favorites including the Montauk clam and corn chowder, buttermilk fried chicken, and four-cheese truffled macaroni will also be available.

Apr 23, 2013
Drum-shaded and nautical flush-mounted lamps provide a modern feel to a refreshed interior of Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton just in time for the new season. News for Foodies: 04.18.13

Highway Diner al Fresco

    At the Highway Diner in East Hampton, the outdoor patio is now open. Added to the restaurant’s daily menu are two specials that have proven to be among the most popular — crawfish etouffee, and grilled yellowfin tuna with grilled eggplant, curried yogurt dressing, and arugula salad.

Stuart’s All Week

    Stuart’s Seafood Market in Amagansett will be open seven days a week beginning Tuesday.

New in Sag

Apr 16, 2013
Livia Hegner and Marianne Farrell, her managing partner, are offering gourmet takeout and catering with international flavor in Sag Harbor Village. Gourmet, International, In Charge

   With the confidence that comes from years of first-hand food experience around the world — having lived and worked in France, Morocco, Italy, Vietnam, Argentina, Thailand, and India — Livia Hegner is clearly her own boss. However, the name of her Sag Harbor food shop, Pepalajefa, which means Pepa the Boss, refers not to Ms. Hegner, but to another restaurant owner she knew in Spain.

    Pepalajefa is Ms. Hegner’s dream come to fruition, offering a gourmet sampling from around the world, served in a to-go container or catered to a beach, boat, or home.

Apr 9, 2013
News for Foodies: 04.11.13

    Nick and Toni’s reopened on Friday after undergoing an interior renovation.

Apr 9, 2013
What dogs enjoy eating and what is good for them can differ as much as it can for humans. Seasons by the Sea: The Love of Dog

    This week’s column has been let off the leash. We are going to talk about what you feed your dog.

    First of all, what ever happened to the good old days when your dog happily thrived on kibble from the grocery store, Milk Bones for treats, and the occasional table scrap? Well, in the good old days we also didn’t wear seat belts, pregnant women drank alcohol, and doctors would smoke in their offices. We know better now. Or do we?

Apr 9, 2013
Fierro’s is back in business in East Hampton with an original owner, Al Fierro, left, and a new partner, Stephen Hickey. FIERRO’S REOPENS: All’s Well in One Small Slice

   The familiar sights and sounds of children and families talking and laughing as they munch on pizza and sip soda returned to Fierro’s Pizza last Thursday. Al Fierro, a co-founder of the pizzeria, which opened at 104 Park Place in East Hampton in 1983, was back behind the counter, along with Stephen Hickey, his new business partner. A portrait of Mr. Fierro’s father, Albert Fierro Jr., looked down from a wall by the counter and a Yankees preseason game played out on the television overhead. All was right in this little slice of the universe.

Apr 2, 2013
News for Foodies: 04.04.13

    Hamptons Restaurant Week begins on Sunday and brings an opportunity to sample the fare at restaurants from Eastport to Montauk, including the North Fork, at a discounted price.

    From Sunday through April 14, all participating restaurants will offer a three-course prix fixe, most for $27.95, although a couple of eateries will offer a $19.95 option. The special will be available all night every night except Saturday, when it will be offered only until 7 p.m.

Apr 2, 2013
Seasons by the Sea: Anything Bread Can Hold

    It is said that John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, “invented” the sandwich while locked in a 24-hour card game. Nowadays, Gamblers Anonymous would have a field day with this. What, he couldn’t stop gambling long enough to fortify himself? All he did was ask his valet to put meat between two slices of bread so his cards wouldn’t get all greasy. His cronies started ordering “the same as Sandwich,” and hence the name was born.

Apr 2, 2013
News for Foodies: 03.28.13

    The traditional foods of Umbria will be the focus of the next in a series of Italian cooking classes offered at the Loaves and Fishes cooking school in Bridgehampton. On the menu for the class, which takes place Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m., is homemade fettuccine with shaved truffles, stuffed pork tenderloin with a wine sauce, asparagus wrapped in pancetta, and Perugia nut cake with chocolate gelato. The cost is $165.

Lobster Roll Rumble

Mar 26, 2013
Seasons by the Sea: Recipes 03:28:13

Oeufs en Meurette

    This recipe is from the now defunct Peter Kump New York Cooking School. Oeufs en meurette are a Burgundian specialty of poached eggs in red wine sauce.

    Serves six.

6 large eggs, poached

1 Tbsp. each of classic mirepoix (finely diced carrots, celery, onion, and ham)

8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, clarified

2 to 3 cups hearty red wine, Burgundy is preferred

Bouquet garni

1 to 2 Tbsp. beurre manie (butter that is kneaded with equal parts flour)

6 slices bread

1 clove garlic, peeled

Mar 26, 2013
Which came first? An Amagansett hen practiced the art of production. Seasons by the Sea: The Stuff of  Life

     Eggs are delicious. Eggs are boring. Eggs are a perfect little package of protein. Eggs can be dangerous. Eggs are good for you. No, they’re bad for you. All of these things are true. Eggs are confusing!

    As a cook and someone interested in nutrition, I believe in the sunny side of eggs. As a pastry chef, I constantly marvel at the egg’s ability to be transformed into a light and airy souffle or meringue or a rich custard or ice cream. They are simple; they are complicated.

Mar 26, 2013
Eighteen Bay has a set menu and a small but well-edited bar with a smattering of local wines, organic gin and vodka, and a very tasty cucumber gimlet. East End Eats: A Gem on ‘the Rock’

Located on North Ferry Road, 18 Bay is in a lovely restored farmhouse with big windows and a covered porch. There is a wood-burning stove at the entrance, a bar in the middle, and about 12 tables all around.

Mar 19, 2013
News for Foodies: 03.21.13

    This week’s food news includes options for upcoming spring religious holidays.

    At Stuart’s Seafood market in Amagansett, Charlotte Sasso has her homemade gefilte fish and horseradish available. Other Passover specialties, which must be pre-ordered, include brisket, latkes, and kosher noodle kugel. Stuart’s is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on Tuesday.

    For those ready to make reservations for an Easter Sunday restaurant dinner, Cafe Max in East Hampton will be serving a three-course holiday meal for $30 beginning at 1 p.m. on March 31.

Mar 19, 2013
News for Foodies: 03.14.13

    In Montauk, the Coast restaurant, which has reopened for dinners on Thursdays through Saturdays, will also be open this week on Sunday, when the Friends of Erin holds their annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., the bar will be open and a takeout menu featuring soups, stews, reuben sandwiches, and more, will be offered. Tonight will bring the second in a series of family trivia nights at the Coast, with a prix fixe meal offered to adults for $20 and to children for $10, along with an opportunity to compete on a trivia team.

Mar 12, 2013
Laura Donnelly’s brother painted the watercolor for the frontispiece of Patricia Wells’s “Bistro Cookbook.” When it faded over time, he repainted it for her. Seasons by the Sea: Happiness, From Book to Plate

    Last week I offered up the first five of my 10 favorite cookbooks, now for the second.

    I had meant to include a “Silver Palate” cookbook but which one? They are all good, and were revolutionary for their time, but I simply couldn’t choose. I am also partial to my little collection of historical cookbooks: Thomas Jefferson’s “Congressional Wives” and “The First Ladies Cookbook,” but none stood out in particular. So I have narrowed my list down to two marvelous French cookbooks, another dessert cookbook, one “Barefoot Contessa,” and one purely for the kitsch factor.

Mar 12, 2013
Salade Tourangelle, from Robert Freson’s “The Taste of France,” is a selection of cooked artichoke hearts, asparagus, and green beans served with raw celery and mushrooms, each with its own separate vinaigrette. Seasons by the Sea: Recipes 03:14:13

Salade Tourangelle

    This recipe from “The Taste of France” is more of a guideline, and does not give measurements. Each vegetable is prepared separately but served together on the same platter.

Asparagus tips, cooked and sprinkled with a vinaigrette made with walnut oil and white wine vinegar to which you have added salt and pepper, some finely chopped shallots and a little chopped parsley

Cooked artichoke hearts, with a stronger vinaigrette containing mustard, chopped fresh tarragon, chives, chervil, parsley, and salt and pepper

Mar 12, 2013
News for Foodies: 03.07.13

Now For Home

    The tomato sauce prepared and used at Astro Pizza and Felice’s Restaurant, the side-by-side Italian spots in ­Amagansett, can now be purchased for use at home, and even ordered by mail. Containers come in two sizes: 16 ounces for $5.50 and 36 ounces for $7.50. Homemade pizza dough and the restaurants’ homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing are also available in takeout packages.

Heating Up

Mar 5, 2013
Lee Bailey’s lovage and apple stuffed roasted chicken, from his book “Country Weekends,” is one of the writer’s favorite chicken recipes. Seasons by the Sea: A Foodie’s Five Favorites

   I have a huge cookbook collection. I am constantly editing, but the collection grows. People give me books, I buy more. I am first in line at the cookbook booth at the Ladies Village Improvement ­Society Fair. I have even bought back books I donated to the L.V.I.S. That’s mental.

Mar 5, 2013
Seasons by the Sea: Recipes 03:07:13

Lovage and Apple Stuffed Roast Chicken

    Here is Lee Bailey’s recipe. I substitute celery leaves for lovage.

    Serves six.

2 21/2-lb. chickens

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 cup butter, softened

1 handful lovage

1 large cooking apple, peeled and cored

Gravy:

1 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 Tbsp. flour

1 cup chicken stock, heated

1 Tbsp. chopped chives

Mar 5, 2013
The food at Highway Diner and Bar takes its inspiration from all over, including the chef’s native New Orleans and, with these braised beef tacos, the Southwest. East End Eats: My Way at the Highway

Highway Diner and Bar

290 Montauk Highway

East Hampton

631-324-0130

Sunday through Thursday,

10:30 a.m.-9 p.m.

Friday and Saturday,

10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

   I had been wanting to try the Highway Diner and Bar ever since it opened. Every time I drive by, it is packed. The concept is genius — an affordable, kid-friendly diner by day, a bit more of a cool hangout at night.

Feb 26, 2013
News for Foodies: 02.28.13

    Rick Bogush, the garden manager at Bridge Gardens in Bridgehampton, will present “Cooking With Herbs, Part Two” on Sunday at the Bridgehampton Community House. The event will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free to Bridge Gardens members, and $15 for others. Reservations have been requested, as space is limited, and can be made by calling the offices of the Peconic Land Trust, which is sponsoring the event, or by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

Italian Cooking

Feb 26, 2013